


Ageless Attraction

by MoonlitRamblings



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-19 18:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2397734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitRamblings/pseuds/MoonlitRamblings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Confusion, magic, and more confusion. Why are a teenage Emma and a teenage Regina wandering through Storybrooke forests? (Complete)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Apparently, I'm on somewhat of a "mess with Swan Queen ages" kick. I still dislike the title. Here goes nothing.
> 
> And I forgot to double post this, again. Gotta get used to this.

Emma shakes her head as she sits up and then has to resettle her glasses. W _here the hell am I?_ It looks like the middle a forest somewhere. Hadn’t she just been in the city? A groan grabs her attention and she looks across the clearing. A girl who looks to be around her age, maybe a year older, is sitting up too.

Emma’s eyes widen because, even though the girl is dressed kinda weird, she’s gorgeous. Dark brown hair, pulled back in a braid, reveals an angel’s face with the most expressive brown eyes Emma has ever seen. The other girl is wearing black pants tucked into black boots, which look normal enough if way above Emma’s pay grade, and then a maroon fancy coat of some kind over an equally fancy white shirt; the whole outfit is probably worth Emma’s entire wardrobe put together. Maybe it’s some private school’s super old-fashioned uniform?

The girl spots her a second later and they both scramble to their feet at the same time. The brunette speaks first, “Where are we? I do not know these woods. Who are you?”

Emma shrugs, “No idea, I’ve definitely never been here before. My name’s Emma though, Emma Swan.”

Regina frowns at the casual way of speaking the blonde girl has. Her eyes trail down the strange blue pants and the rolled up sleeves of a loose, open red shirt, with a bizarre pattern of some sort on it, revealing a plain black shirt underneath. “Nice to meet you,” she says automatically as her eyes swing back up to meet blue-green ones. “I am Regina of Milliar.”

-x-x-x-

It takes a few minutes of them both feeling the other out, trying to see how much they should trust the other, for them to figure out why they keep misunderstanding each other. “Wait a minute, are you saying you actually think you’re a princess? Not just some really sheltered rich kid?”

Regina frowns, for what does Emma Swan think she has been saying this whole time? “My father’s father is a reigning monarch, therefore my father is a prince and so it follows that, while rather removed from the line of succession, I am a princess.”

Emma finally realizes that Regina is completely serious and gapes. “But we haven’t had princesses and kings and knights and all that stuff for like hundreds of years, not real ones anyway,” Emma sputters.

“It is possible I have been taken to another world,” Regina looks thoughtful. “Mother is a very powerful sorceress. I simply don’t know why she would have sent me here, but not come herself.” Mother should have at least given her some instruction or informed her of her trespass if this was a punishment.

Something catches her attention; she frowns and closes her eyes, obviously focusing on something within. She opens her eyes and stares at a hand she holds out, cupped. “I also seem to…” She flexes her hand and a ball of fire appears in it. Emma’s eyes go wide, her mouth dropping open as she backs away from the very real heat it gives off. “Ah, yes. It seems I have magic now, as well instinctive control over it. How peculiar.”

“Holy shit!” Emma finally finds her voice. She makes frantic gestures, her eyes never leaving the fire. “Put that thing away!” Regina looks up and sees her companion’s distress. She closes her hand, extinguishing the fireball. “God, crap.”

Regina ignores the blonde’s panic as she herself is rather unsettled by her new abilities. She doesn’t trust magic—it gives her mother too much power and control, makes it too easy to deal out punishment. She chooses to focus on something else that has caught her attention, “What I don’t understand is; if you are years in the future from my time or in a world that is, why do you have a knight’s sword?”

“I don’t have a sword,” Emma responds with immediate confusion before she follows Regina’s eyes. She looks over her shoulder and sees the hilt of the sword that’s apparently strapped across her back. “Oh crap, I have a sword. Well damn, maybe we are in your world.”

-x-x-x-

After a half an hour of walking, they pause for breath at the top of a hill. Emma pulls her hair tie off her wrist. The hiking made her heat up, even though the autumn air had been cool when she first woke up on the ground. Regina had the right idea, but Emma doesn’t want to take the time to braid her own hair; plus she knows hers wouldn’t look nearly as nice as Regina’s, so she just pulls it up in a ponytail.

“Those look like no buildings I have ever seen,” Regina says, gazing down at the part of a town that is visible through the trees.

Emma peers closer and lets out a sigh of relief. “But I have, thank god. We’re in my world.” She looks at the clock tower and various buildings that signal a small town. Somewhere near the coast, she notes at the sight of the waterfront. “Okay, new plan. We follow my lead.”

Regina frowns, because this means she isn’t in her own world and she knows nothing of this new one. “Very well.”

“No need to sound so thrilled about it, princess,” Emma snorts as they set off again.

Regina glances at the blonde from the corner of her eye. Emma looks amused, but Regina can tell she’s a little hurt by Regina’s apparent lack of faith. The brunette smiles a little to herself before adopting a haughty tone, “I’m simply not sure you’re up to the task.”

Emma gives a squawk of outrage, “Hey, I am so up to the task. I was born up to the task.” She punctuates this by banging her fist on an open palm.

“Deeds, not words, Miss Swan,” Regina challenges back.

-x-x-x-

They wander the town and no one pays them much attention, although a few eye Regina’s outfit with mild surprise and interest. They come upon the building Emma was reluctantly looking for within a half an hour. “Here.” Regina stops looking at the strange buildings with interest and stares up at the one they’ve arrived at. “I’m not a huge fan of the police, but I have no idea what else to do.”

“Police?” Regina asks, wishing she would stop feeling a step behind the blonde.

“Police officers,” Emma tries to clarify, “Law enforcement? Protectors? Sheriff?”

Regina brightens when she recognizes the word, “Ah, a sheriff, yes.”

“Right,” Emma nods, “So we should go in and see if they know anything, because if we are in my world, we’re still nowhere near the city I’ve been living in recently. We’re in some small town by the sea or something. We need to find out where we are.”

“I see.” So even Emma is not where she was before they awoke in the forest, even if they are in her world. “This whole episode is turning out to be most strange.”

Emma gives her an incredulous look, “You’re just reaching that conclusion _now_?”

-x-x-x-

There’s a tight knot of anxious and frustrated looking adults crowded around a desk. Emma nearly walks out, wanting to just figure it out on their own, but then she glances at Regina. Regina who is looking around the room with interest and is obviously puzzled by light bulbs. Regina who is counting on her. So she walks further in, the brunette instinctively following her while her interested gaze still goes everywhere.

“Um, excuse me?” Emma says tentatively. Regina can’t help but stare at Emma from the corner of her eye. Where is the brash young woman who was so confident a moment ago? In her place is a girl Regina remembers is younger than she. Regina thinks about how she herself has been acting and how she would if Mother was here and thinks she understands. She moves closer to Emma, trying to offer silent support. Emma seems to straighten and her voice is more sure when she continues, “Is the Sheriff around?”

Everyone turns to stare at the girls. Snow’s eyes drift from the young blonde, hair up in a ponytail with glasses. The girl’s face and her outfit, especially the plaid shirt, look familiar, but it’s the brunette in the riding outfit that she recognizes first from her memories. Younger even than then, but still… “Regina?” Why is a teenage Regina here? How? Where is the adult Regina? They are all here because she’d been investigating something with Emma and no one has heard from them in—her eyes snap back to the blonde. “Emma!?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second part is all ready to go. Enjoy!

"So, what you're saying is that you two," Emma motions between Snow and David, "are not only "the real" Snow White and Prince Charming, but you're also my parents?"

"I know it's hard to believe," Snow says, her eyes glistening as she takes in the teenage daughter she never got to know.

"But it's the truth," David continues earnestly.

Emma continues to look at them like they're probably crazy and the dewy looks are creeping her out a bit. She goes to give Regina an "are-you-buying-this?" look, but the brunette is frowning at Snow for a different reason.

"Princess Snow White of the Enchanted Forest?" she asks. "But I thought you were only seven years old?"

"Oh," Snow says, turning to Regina, not having thought about how her explanation would have impacted the other girl. "Yes, well… As you may have realized, we are no longer in the Enchanted Forest, but in a different world." Regina nods. "What you also need to know is that we're some years in the future. We mentioned that we know both of you, but you should also know that you are both around thirty."

"Oh, my," Regina says.

"Wait, wait, wait. I thought you looked young to be my mom right now, how the hell can you be my mom if I'm actually older than you?"

"Someone cast a curse to bring us all here, erased our memories of our home, and made it so no one in town aged. That's why we sent you away in the first place, so you wouldn't be trapped," David explained earnestly.

"Riiight, of course that's why."

"Who cast this curse?" Regina asks, suddenly tense. "Was it my mother? Is she here?" She was sure that even being cursed was not a good enough excuse for not finding and reporting to her mother. "She will be most displeased that I have not found her."

Emma gives her a look, "Really? That's what you're worried about?" Then her frown deepens, because she could see that her mother being around is making Regina more upset than anything else that had happened so far. Considering all they had just been told, that is saying something.

Regina sends Emma a glare that is weakened by the way her arms wrap tightly around herself and how quickly she looks away.

"Your mother isn't here," Snow says, avoiding the question of who cast the curse. "And it doesn't matter who cast the original curse. What matters is figuring out who turned you into teenagers."

"I'm still not sure I believe you on that," Emma protests.

"I know magic is hard to—" Snow starts.

"Oh, I believe in magic. Regina can summon fire or whatever," Emma flaps a hand as she eyes the other girl with a mixture of respect and disbelief. "Magical fire is still miles away from finding my parents and being, I don't know, de-aged _and_ memory zapped."

"Oh," David says, clearly not having expected that answer.

Ruby, who's been standing by to give Snow and David space to talk to the girls while watching mini-Emma and mini-Regina with fascination, steps forward. She's expected something along these lines. "Here, I think I got a picture of you guys, older and stuff. Just give me a second to find it." She quickly goes through her phone before finding the one of Emma, Regina, and Henry having breakfast at the dinner a couple of weeks ago.

She holds up her phone. It's not a great photo, she'd taken it on the sly, but Emma and Regina's faces are clearly visible. They're on the opposite side of the bench from Henry, listening as he tells some story or something. They're not, like, beaming with happiness or laughing, but they're clearly content and each has a small smile on her face. Ruby had tried showing it to Emma as a way to get her over her obvious denial and/or nerves and just ask Regina out, but it hadn't seemed to work—for all Emma that had asked for Ruby to send the picture to her.

Regina stares at the perfectly rendered, miniature portrait in admiration. She easily recognizes not only herself, but also a version of Emma that seems to have grown into herself with grace and a confidence that shines through even in this frozen, casual moment.

Emma studies the picture and realizes it confirms what these people are saying two ways. Firstly, this is clearly a cell phone from the future because damn. Secondly, the blonde woman in the picture does look like her and the brunette is definitely Regina. How unfair is it that Regina manages to age over a decade and look even hotter?

Emma's unable to refute the image, even though she's still not sure she believes that the couple is a) actually Snow White and Prince Charming or b) her real parents, so all she says is, "Who's the kid?"

Regina looks away from the picture to nod her agreement with Emma's question, also curious.

"Oh!" Snow exchanges a glance with her husband, and shoots a slightly annoyed look at Ruby, before turning back to the girls who are waiting expectantly. "He's…your son."

Emma blinks while Regina frowns, "Whose son? Mine or Miss Swan's?"

Ruby lets out a giggle, "Wow, really? Apparently no matter what age you are, you always call Emma that."

Regina finds herself suppressing a flush, although she isn't sure why since she hasn't done anything improper.

"Well?" Emma asks, ignoring the way she's trying not to blush as well. She also tries to ignore how she kinda likes that Regina calls her "Miss Swan". It makes her feel older, more independent, and like she's worth listening to. No one's ever called her that before, not like that—her social worker did, but she always seems so patronizing when she calls Emma that—and she really likes the difference. Plus, she's not sure she could handle the other girl saying her first name.

Snow shifts uncomfortably and her and David exchange another look, so Ruby huffs and answers for them. "Come on guys, it's not that big a deal. He's both of your son." Then she frowns as if she's trying to figure out if that sentence is grammatically correct. "Emma gave birth to him," she gestures to the floored blonde, before turning to the brunette, "but Regina adopted him. He went and found Emma when he was ten because he wanted to know you. You coming to town led to the curse breaking and voila, all the happy endings, you all found each other, etc."

Emma and Regina try to wrap their heads around this situation, their eyes drawn back to the boy in the picture. "What's his name?" Emma asks, her voice even, but quiet.

"Henry," Snow speaks up, clearly anxious about how Emma is taking this news.

Regina gasps, "After Daddy? I mean," she clarifies when Emma looks at her. "My father's name, it's Henry."

Snow nods, "Most likely. You named him."

Regina swallows, "Then my father must have died." Emma gives her a look, wondering how she got to that conclusion. Regina understands, "In my home, it is not done, to name someone after someone still living. Bad luck."

Emma places a hand on Regina's arm, neither noticing the small jolt of warmth that shoots through them. Emma might not have a dad, or maybe she does, but she knows that finding out they're dead, even if it's far in the future, isn't easy to hear.

Emma turns back to the picture, "How old is he? Twelve?"

"Yes," David confirms.

"He looks perfect." Regina can't keep the thought, or her large smile, to herself. Emma doesn't respond. Part of her thinks the sentiment is too sappy, and another part is so happy that her future kid was adopted by a real mom who loves him even now, before she gets him, and third part of her is even jealous that he gets all that. But most of her just silently agrees with Regina: he does look perfect.

"Umm," Emma begins, still staring at the picture. "Are me and Regina, like, together?" Because the picture, while perhaps not screaming "in love" does at least suggest "family" and hint "married".

Ruby has to physically clamp her jaw shut, and just turns to see how Snow is going to handle that. David's just staring at Emma and Regina as if he'd never seen them before, Ruby can practically see the wheels turning in his head as he considers this idea. He opens his mouth, only to close it, and continue to stare into the distance, eyes unfocused.

Snow is shocked for a moment before laughing, "Oh, no. Don't be silly."

Emma tenses and so does Regina, but while Emma keeps her eyes on the phone, Regina looks up with narrowed eyes. She hates condescension and that laugh reeked of it, "I don't see why you find the idea so amusing. We do share a son."

Snow blinks at hearing such a harsh tone from young Regina. The glare is miles away from either the Evil Queen or the Mayor, but it's still pretty effective.

Snow frowns as she tries to explain, "I'm sorry. It's just… When you get your memories back you'll find it funny too."

Regina places a hand on her stomach, but stands taller, "I doubt it." She wants to be nice to Emma's mother and yet the woman seems even more naïve than either of them, her relentless optimism and sickly-sweet attitude is rubbing her the wrong way. She doesn't like people presuming to know her feelings, it's bad enough that's all her mother ever does. She refuses to tolerate it from anyone else.

Snow's frown deepens. She's finally realized Regina is actually upset and a quick glance towards an Emma who still won't look up, suggests she is too. "No, no, I'm sorry. It's just, you two don't get along very well, that's all." That gets the girls' attention. Emma looks up, surprised, while Regina raises an eyebrow. "You fought all the time when you met and even though you've worked together on some problems, I think without Henry you would still be fighting. You're civil for him, but you two would never _date_."

Emma crosses her arms, trying not to say something stereotypically teenage like "you don't know me" or "you wouldn't understand how I feel", but it's difficult. Yeah, Regina's pretty different than she is, all proper and stuff, but they get along pretty well, thank you very much. She settles for, "If you say so," and changes the subject, "So what exactly is the plan for getting us back to normal or whatever?"

-x-x-x-

"Well, I think that the cause of this is magic," Regina says.

Emma rolls her eyes, "Duh, how else would this have happened? The real question is who did it to us and how to get back to normal."

Regina crosses her arms across her chest and scowls, "Pardon me for feeling the need to establish a foundation for our discussion. I was going to continue, if you hadn't interrupted."

"Oh, so sorry, princess. Do go on." Emma makes a show of waiting patiently.

Regina sniffs, "I will. We should gather any texts on what magic could have caused this to happen to that we can reverse the spell. Aging spells are not hard to break, but there are many different such spells, the key is to find the one used on us." Her mother often looked into aging spells for herself, due to her own vanity, and for Regina, something about future husbands desiring a youthful looking wife. "I'm sure I must have some in my possession if I am now a sorceress."

"Really?" Emma raises an eyebrow. "That's your big plan. Study?"

"Yes," Regina says defensively. "I suppose you have a better one?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Emma says. "We should try to find out who did this to us first. They did it so they can fix it. We don't need to figure it out ourselves, just make the person who did fix it."

"Well," Regina says doubtfully, "if they cursed us in the first place I doubt they'll want to reverse it just because we ask."

"Well, yeah," Emma relents before she gives a shrug, "so we get creative in how we ask. Whatever. I've got this sword, right? I bet I know how to use it like you can use your magic. We'll just make them tell us."

"How inelegant." Regina's face is the picture of distaste. "How do you purpose we find this person? Ask whoever we happen to see?"

"I'm sure these people," Emma gestured to the adults, "know where to start. It's better than consulting a textbook or whatever you were saying."

"Now girls," Snow draws their attention and the pair glares at her. She actually falters before regaining her ground. "Arguing isn't going to solve anything."

Regina dislikes the hypocrisy and she can tell Emma feels the same by the way she bristles. "Is that not what you are doing as well?" she gestures to the adults, who were in fact arguing about what to do as well.

Snow blinks and then flushes slightly. "We're just, _discussing_ the best course of action."

Emma gives a half suppressed snort. Regina finds herself in agreement and merely lifts a brow at the older brunette. Snow clearly doesn't know how to deal with teenagers and so continues as if she hasn't noticed their skepticism. "We will figure out who did this to you, don't you worry."

"You say you are Snow White, the princess of the Enchanted Forest?" Regina asks, not interested in Snow's platitudes.

"Queen," Snow corrects.

"Yes, well. Despite no longer being in the Enchanted Forest, I assume you still have some powers of your office. Do you possess the royal collection of magical books that could help shed light on our situation?"

"Oh, no. That was all left in the Enchanted Forest. Mr. Gold might have some books and perhaps the Blue Fairy, but the only other person in town I know of who has such books would be you, Regina."

The adults quickly move on to who they should approach first (Snow advocating for the Blue Fairy and David thinking Gold), but the teens exchange glances as they're unconsciously excluded from the discussion, just like before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who read and left comments for chapter--nothings better than comments. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm sick (head cold and very sore throat mostly making sleep kinda miserable) and I have an exam tomorrow, but I edited this yesterday so I can still post. I was going to split this into five chapters, but it ended up in four parts and I really cant think to figure out how to make it into five and it doesn't really matter so... Enjoy!

The girls were standing on a street corner, talking quietly while looking anxiously around them. They had slipped out of the sheriff's station, tired of being ignored, and planned to go find their own answers. Emma had given in to Regina's suggestion they check out her books, however they'd run into a problem—neither of them knew where older Regina's house was.

"Um, excuse me?"

The two had been so focused on whispering to each other and were not expecting anyone to approach them that they jumped at the voice—they are also a little paranoid about getting in trouble for sneaking away. It takes a second for the two to make the connection, but both sets of eyes go wide. "Henry!" Regina exclaims, unable to contain her happiness at meeting her son. She drinks him in eagerly, wondering what she should say.

Henry narrows his eyes. He'd seen the girls walk by the diner and then stay by the street corner for over five minutes. Something about them had seemed really familiar, so he'd left his booth (and homework) to investigate (especially when he'd noticed the Fairytale Land-ish clothes the brown haired girl was wearing). Then his own eyes widen and his mouth falls open. Sure, she's a teenager and her voice is kinda high, but she is still obviously… "Oh my god. Mom?!" His eyes dart between the two of them. "Ma?!"

"Hey, kid," Emma says awkwardly, giving a little wave.

"Hello," Regina greets him, a shy smile on her face. Her son, right in front of her, and he's even better in person than in the portrait, so smart to recognize them so quickly.

"What happened to you guys!? Why do you look like teenagers?"

"Um, yeah… We'd really like to know that too," Emma grumbles.

"We don't know what happened to us, dear. And we do not just look younger. Neither Miss Swan nor myself can remember anything beyond the ages we appear to be."

Henry tries to follow along, "You mean you're actually like seventeen again?"

"Fifteen, in my case," Regina says.

"Fourteen," Emma supplies.

"But in substance, yes," Regina finishes.

"How? Why?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Emma admits. "Probably better since you also probably have known magic exists for more than an hour."

Henry laughs, "I surprised you believe so quickly."

"Yeah, well, it's hard not too with little miss fire starter over here," she jerks a thumb at Regina.

"Do you know anything about what might have happened?" Regina asks, ignoring Emma's comment. "The people at the station weren't very forthcoming."

Henry smirks, he's so bringing it up later about adults never telling to tell kids anything. "I don't really know. Ma, Emma, you'd asked for Mom's help with some magic stuff. Someone was doing something in the forest, but you weren't sure what. Mom knows more about magic than you do, but neither of you thought it was something really bad or anything." He frowns, "But I guess it was, huh, since they managed to curse you into forgetting and back to teenagers."

"Perhaps," Regina says. "Aging spells can be very complex or very tricky, but still simple in exxence."

"Here's the thing," Emma cuts in. "We ditched the adults back at the station to go find out stuff on our own before realizing we didn't have a clue where anything was."

"Oh! Cool! Like an operation?"

"Uh, sure."

"Awesome! Can I help?"

Regina looks alarmed at that, already feeling protective, "I'm not sure if that's safe, dear." Henry's face falls and she hurries to explain, "It's only that if someone is turning adults into teenagers," the word is strange in her mouth, "then there's no telling what the effects could be on a child. If you age back fifteen years, it would kill you." Technically, it could also end up aging forward to fifteen or most likely not work at all, but she doesn't want to take any risks with her son.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Henry says, crestfallen. "Isn't there anything I can do?" The girls hesitate. "Please?" he adds and neither of them have had time to build up a defense to his pleading face, complete with puppy dog eyes.

Regina breaks first, glancing at Emma for an idea. Emma almost calls Regina a push-over before deciding against it. "We were going to try to find some magic books."

"Yes," Regina says. "I was told I should have some in my possession. Could you tell us where our house is?"

"Oh sure, it's 108 Mifflin Street. It's the big white one. You just go down there," he points, "And then it should be your second right."

"Thank you very much," Regina says politely and with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks, kid," Emma adds.

"You're welcome. Are you sure I can't come?" Henry asks.

Regina nibbles her lip when something occurs to her, "Where were you before you saw us? Shouldn't someone have been with you?"

Henry looks guilty, but tries to cover it up. "I was just at the dinner, Granny was watching me since you guys were all busy, but I can totally come, I mean, you are my moms."

Emma laughs, "Nice try, kid. I bet you're supposed to be doing homework or something right now, right?"

"Maybe."

"Uh-hu. Something tells me, if we actually could remember being your moms, we'd tell you to go back inside and finish that."

"Alright, fine. You win." He smiles to show he's not too upset. "I guess I'll head back."

"Thank you again, for your help, Henry," Regina says.

"No problem! Good luck!" He waves as he runs back into the dinner.

The pair smile as they watch him go before turning. "I'm sure I can find something useful in my future self's collection," Regina pronounces as they begin to head in the direction their son pointed.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, princess," Emma says with a roll of her eyes.

Regina narrows her eyes, "Somehow, I feel as if "princess" is an insult when you say it."

"Oh no, your highness. It's totally meant with the utmost respect," Emma's eyes flutter and her voice goes a bit higher in pitch.

The look is so ridiculously simpering that Regina has to suppress a snort of amusement and finds she isn't angry in the slightest. She tilts her nose in the air, "Very good, Miss Swan. It is always best to respect your betters." She even gives a little sniff of distain as she looks down at the other girl. The mischievous glint in her eyes gives her away though.

Emma can't hold back her laughter, breaking character and laughing so hard her sides hurt, "God you do that way too well."

Regina permits herself a wide smile, "Why thank you, I practice." The wink she gives Emma is more of an adorable scrunch of her face and it keeps the grin on Emma's face firmly in place.

-x-x-x-

Emma stares incomprehensively at the book open in her hands. She tilts her head to one side, then the other, and finally turns the book upside down. "Okay, yeah, I can't read any of this sh-stuff. What language even is this?"

Regina leans over to take look. "That's elvish. Well, half-elvish, half-wiccan." Mother makes her do magical research for her sometimes so she knows most magical languages.

Emma's eyes light up triumphantly, "So you are a witch!"

Regina looks affronted, "There's no need to be rude."

"Oh, sorry." Emma holds up her hands, "Didn't know that was an insult."

-x-x-x-

Regina frowns and rolls her shoulders, "It's hot in here." This dwelling is much warmer than her own home.

Emma resists the urge to point out Regina was the one who had wanted to test her new powers by lighting a fire in the fireplace. The blonde shrugs, "Well, that's cuz you got some many layers on." It was true, Regina still had her fancy jacket on and her shirt and who knows what other old-fashioned layers too. Emma tries to drag her mind away from picturing Regina in various old-fashion underwear. "I don't know how you can stand it."

"It was autumn," Regina protests, a tad defensively. "Or at least, I'm dressed for autumn." She frowns as realizes she can't really place what she was doing right before she wound up in the forest with Emma, just vague ideas about how old she is and that it was autumn; which makes sense seeing as she's under a time lapse spell. Still, it is rather unsettling to contemplate.

"Well, this is _your_ house," Emma points out. "Why don't you go up to your bedroom and change into something more comfortable." As soon as she says it, Emma knows it sounds like a line out of a bad porno and suppresses a blush, but luckily Regina doesn't get the resemblance.

Regina's frown deepens as she looks down at herself, normally she would have changed when she was done with riding, and gives a decisive nod. "That is a good idea. I'll be back down in more suitable clothes, though I don't know how long it will take to find something. In the meantime, why don't you look for any aging and memory spells in the books—just skim through for the words—so we can begin to narrow down which books to consult." She taps one stack, "These should all be readable to you."

Emma pouted, "But that sounds boring, especially by myself. And I'm hungry. I can't even remember the last time I ate," she adds with a twinkle in her eye.

Regina rolls her eyes, but can't stop the blush at Emma's implication that Regina's presence makes something boring, tolerable, "How tragic." Emma pouts, her green eyes large and puppy-ish. Regina can't resist. "Fine, as this is my house, I will permit you to fetch any food you can find. I'm sure you know where to look for that in the homes of this world."

"Really? Sweet!" Emma gets up too, practically hopping with glee.

"Do try to look through at least one book before I get back."

"Yeah, yeah. Food time."

Regina gives up and chuckles at the wide grin on the blonde's face. She shakes her head they make their way to the foyer and split up, Regina up the stairs and Emma to the kitchen, although not before Emma enjoys the view of Regina's ass as she stalks up the stairs.

-x-x-x-

"So you did manage to crack open a book?" Regina says from the doorway. She wasn't that nervous about the clothes she chose until she left her bedroom and saw Emma sitting by the coffee table.

She doesn't get much time to worry about it because at the sound of her voice, Emma begins to turn her head around, "About tim…" Whatever else Emma planned on saying falls away as she stares.

Regina, despite all of Emma's teasing, really had seemed very regal to the blonde and her clothing had helped reinforce that, even if it hadn't been a ball gown. Now though, the Regina standing in the doorway still seems too beautiful ever be with Emma, but she looks so much more real. She's let down her hair out of her braid so that it hangs in loose waves around her shoulders, longer than Emma expected. Her legs are hugged by dark jeans and she has on a red sweater that looks like its cashmere. The whole outfit makes Emma want to curl up with her by the fire and _touch_.

Regina mistakes Emma's stunned silence for disapproval, curling an arm around her stomach as she begins to ramble, "I wasn't sure what to pick and the dresses seemed too short and to be too much of a challenge to put on by myself. These pants are the same material as your own, yes? And the sweater looked soft… I thought it would be alright."

Emma finally clues in near the end that Regina's actually worried about what Emma thinks of her outfit. Their eyes meet, "You look great, Regina."

Regina hesitates, obviously trying to gauge Emma's sincerity before she ducks her head down shyly, "Thank you."

-x-x-x-

Snow, David, and Tink are all waiting on the doorstep to Regina's mansion. They'd eventually realized the girls were missing. Once they'd called Regina's house, and young Emma's voice had come through the phone saying "Hello, swanky white mansion, how can I help you?", they'd headed over themselves. They hear heated voices after they ring the doorbell and aren't surprised when they open the door to find the teens arguing.

"—is all I'm saying," Emma continues.

"All _I'm_ saying," Regina retorts, hands on her hips, "is that that makes absolutely no sense. Why in the world would anyone want make a spell that could do _that_?"

"Well, I don't know, but it's magic! Can't magic do anything anyone wants it too?"

"But why would anyone _want_ to do that!"

"Cuz they were curious, or bored, or really drunk, I don't know!"

Regina gives the blonde such an exaggerated eye roll that looks like it should be physically painful before turning to the trio in the doorway. A practiced fake smile crosses her face, "Hello, pardon us, won't you come in?"

"Thank you?" Snow says, exchanging a glance with an already exasperated Tink and very confused David.

The girls step aside to let them in and Regina closes the door behind them.

Emma breaks the silence, "Okay, so maybe a spell like that doesn't exist, but could it? Like in theory or whatever?"

"How should I know?" Regina scowls, throwing her hands up in the air.

Emma goes to open her mouth, but Snow interrupts their arguement. "For heaven's sakes, can't you two ever get along for even one second!?" Snow's voice comes out louder than she meant (higher pitched too), echoing a bit in the large foyer, but Tink firmly believes the point still stands. Regina and Emma's bickering gets tiring and she doesn't know why she thought mini-versions of them would be any better than the grown up versions, "grown up" being a very loose term indeed.

Emma and Regina however flinch, looking surprised when they turn to Snow, as if they'd forgotten she was there, despite just letting her into the house. Their initial, slightly fearful reaction to the shouting adult, was quickly hidden and they instead began to look at her as if she'd just said something strange like "the sky is a lovely shade of polka dot today".

Regina frowns, "What are you talking about, dear?"

"Yeah," Emma chimes in, looking a bit bewildered, "Regina and I get along great."

It's the adults turn to look confused. "But you were practically yelling at each other a minute ago."

Emma and Regina look at each other and shrug.

"Well, yeah," Emma starts.

"But we weren't _angry_ with each other," Regina continues.

"You weren't?" Tink asks.

"Of course not," Regina even scoffs a little.

"Regina's awesome," Emma adds.

Regina practically preens at the statement, "Why thank you. I find Miss Swan most enjoyable to be around as well." Emma grins in response, a very light blush on her cheeks.

"You do?" Snow asks, looking from one girl to the other. They both nod in answer. Snow glances at David who has the oddest look on his face and Tink who just shrugs and shakes her head. Snow feels the beginnings of a headache and it's really saying something that she hadn't been getting one until right this moment. "What were you even arguing about this time?"

Emma freezes as she realizes just how their discussion would seem out of context and Regina blushes lightly. "Nothing," the brunette supplies, a little too quickly to be completely believable.

"Yeah," Emma's voice is higher pitched than normal and she's slowly turning red. "Just forget it. Wasn't that important anyways."

"But…" David tries.

"Why don't we all go into the study?" Regina says brightly, and the pair began ushering the older folks down the hall. "We have found a number of books that…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The final part will probably go up tomorrow, after my exam and when I have the time and mental energy to finish editing. I think I was going to check this over again, but my head only has so much room atm.
> 
> Thanks to all those who read, kudos, bookmark, and comment!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Final part of this story. Sorry for the delay but being sick takes a lot out of me and editing is tedious.

"Hey, Regina?" Emma says, fiddling with the glass in her hand. Regina and Emma had moved to the kitchen, each with a book, reportedly to get a snack. Truthfully, the study was crowded with the extra adults and neither girl felt completely comfortable in such a small space with so many strangers.

"Yes?"

Emma tries to gather her courage. "I know… I know what they said, Snow, or my mom, or whatever, but… Do you think that maybe they were…?" Emma sighed, "Never mind."

Regina takes a deep breath before giving voice to what she suspects Emma has been thinking, what she herself had been thinking. "Do I think that perhaps they were wrong or uninformed? That we were in fact in a relationship?"

Emma looks up, startled, "Yeah."

Regina sighed, looking into her cup of cocoa, "It has crossed my mind, yes. After all, they thought we didn't get along when we do, so I think it is very possible they misunderstood the older versions of ourselves too. Henry certainly seemed to behave as if it wasn't unusual for us to be working together and getting along and I trust his opinion more than theirs. I am a private person and I don't enjoy letting others in on my personal feelings or thoughts."

She learned when she was young how to keep a neutral mask around Mother, who enjoyed destroying things Regina cherished as punishment, or to impart some lesson, or holding them over her head in order to manipulate her further. She didn't trust her father's discretion, not where Mother was concerned and half the time she tried to talk to him, in seemed to go in one ear and come out as something completely different.

"Yeah, I'm normally like that too, but I don't know…" She frowns at the marble countertop, "If she is my mother…" She'd often thought about having a mother to talk to and confide in, but it was more a nice daydream. What she wanted was a mother who'd actually raised her to talk to, who knew her—not this fairytale princess with her mushy looks. The woman didn't feel like her mother, she felt like anyone else. Maybe older her had been uncomfortable too.

Emma shrugs, "Well, she seems kinda pushy and I only just met her or have only known her for a year or something." She scrunches her brow, the timeline she'd been told had been very confusing. She was distracting herself, "But you're saying, it wouldn't be impossible for us…"

"I," Regina begins, shuffling a little closer to the blonde, "I certainly don't think so. Mother wouldn't approve…" she gnawed her lip. Mother certainly wouldn't. Regina was supposed to marry a prince or a king and have his children, secure a role as queen and the power that comes with it. Falling in love has nothing to do with her future, according to her, and not with a woman—even if she was a princess. However, Regina did not want that, she wanted love and if she found that person… Mother could not keep her from them.

Regina sees Emma shift her weight in the corner of her eye and Regina realizes she'd fallen quiet for too long. She tries to find her previous train of thought.

"Beyond the fact that I find you very attractive," she tries to make up for her pause with the confession even as her cheeks pink. "I feel like we have a connection, that there is this pull between us. And sharing a son is certainly a strong bond."

Emma has to try not to let out a sigh of relief when Regina begins talking again. Every time the brunette mentioned her mother, she got a very strange look on her face—one Emma was starting to dislike more and more. She was glad though Regina seemed to have moved past whatever was bothering her. Her eyes widen when she hears the compliment and then the rest of what the brunette says really catches her attention. "Yeah, exactly," Emma nods eagerly, leaning towards the other girl. "I find you easier to be around than just about anyone I can remember."

Regina smiles, before looking down. She wrings her fingers together slightly, an idea had been brewing in the back of her mind, "There is one thing we could try, to break the spell."

"What?" Emma asks, trying to ignore her sudden breathlessness.

"True Love's kiss," Regina says, not wanting to see Emma's reaction yet. "It would shatter any spell that was cast on us without our permission. True Love is the most powerful magic of all."

"We could try," Emma says, trying not to sound too desperate. She has no idea is she believes in true love or even if it would really break this weird spell they apparently have on them. But she thinks Regina does believe and she's never felt so connected to another person. And she'll take any excuse to kiss the other girl, even if she will probably screw it up somehow.

Regina nods decisively, ignoring her nerves as she faces the other girl more fully. Emma's wide blue-green eyes are only slightly above her own and she sees that the younger girl is just as anxious as she is. Her hand automatically covers the blonde's hand on the counter and gives it a gentle squeeze. "It's not the end of the world if this doesn't work," she teases lightly. "It just means we have to wait a little longer."

Emma nods, recognizing that this isn't Regina saying she doesn't believe in them, just being realistic, giving them a way out and she appreciates it. She can get behind that, no pressure. "Right."

"But we should try to believe it," Regina continues. "Believe that we are true loves."

Emma swallows, because the scariest part is that she could see herself loving this girl. The part she can't believe is someone as wonderful as Regina loving her back, choosing her. But Regina doesn't seem to see it that way, so she decides to put her trust in the other girl. "Alright."

Regina smiles at the blonde, her hand coming up to cup her cheek. She knows she should find it hard to believe, she's only known Emma for a few hours after all. And yet… And yet, Emma makes her feel free, so she doesn't have a hard time believing at all.

Their lips meet, tentatively, their eyes still open so as not to miss. They slip closed quickly, though as they press closer. Emma parts her lips ever so slightly against Regina's plump ones while Regina pulls the other girl a little more firmly against her. It feels right, the way they fit together.

A pulse of multi-colored light envelopes the pair, and only them.

Two adult women's eyes flutter open at the sudden sensation, brains scrambling to catch up, but they don't pull away. In fact, Regina's grip tightens and Emma's arms leave their places on the counter and hanging by her side to wrap around the brunette. This kiss heats up from a chaste pressing of lips to a much more passionate embrace. Emma's mouth opens further and Regina nips at her bottom lip causing a small noise of satisfaction from the blonde before her tongue sneaks out. Regina's other hand twists itself into the ponytail Emma still has.

When they pull apart a moment later, slightly breathless, they stay in their close embrace. They share a smile. "Well, that was something," Emma speaks first.

Regina laughs, "I'll say." She smirks, "You were cute as a teenager."

Emma rolls her eyes, "Please, you were adorable. And I love this outfit, by the way." She runs her hands up and down the sweater which is even softer than it looks. One hand ventures further and squeezes Regina's ass lightly. "I'd've cast the spell myself if I knew I'd get to see you in jeans."

"All you needed to do was ask, Miss Swan, and I'd have been happy to oblige," Regina teases, her voice dropping an octave.

Emma laughs, her eyes darkening, "I'll definitely keep that in mind. I've been hearing rumors about your wardrobe in Ye Old World that I'd be very interested in seeing in person." She ruins most of the seductive effect by obscenely waggling her eyebrows.

Regina laughs, "I'll keep that in mind, darling." She glances at the doorway that leads into the kitchen and sighs. "We should probably go tell the others we broke the spell."

Emma sighs reluctantly, "And I should go find those kids who tried to steal our age. How did they even get their hands on a spell like that?" Emma pulls her arms away from the brunette, but they stay close to each other.

"Who knows? A lot of things got mixed up with how many curses we keep getting subject too. I just don't know why they'd want to use magic to make themselves older," Regina says, shaking her head.

"Probably to get into bars or buy alcohol or something,' Emma speculates. "Going from fifteen to thirty can be useful, assuming the two of them split the difference."

"Most likely. The spell would have worn off at midnight regardless," Regina says. "Even though I maintained some of my raw abilities, now that I have my memories back I recognize the spell. Since we broke it now though, I expect if they've tried anything like that, you'll get a call very soon about sudden teenagers appearing where they shouldn't."

Emma laughs and nods before smiling just for the older woman. "I didn't mind taking a short cut," Emma says, eyes twinkling. "Although, we should probably tell the others we're together. As much as I've loved the time to ourselves, it would save us a lot of time if something like this happens again."

"I suppose, for all I find it hard to believe 'something like this' will happen again," Regina acknowledges. "I think our younger selves did clue your father in—at least to some extent. Snow is still oblivious to an almost mentally incompetent degree."

Emma nudges Regina's shoulder with her own and rolls her eyes at how the other woman can't seem to help herself when it comes to Snow, "Yeah, well looking back, I think Ruby was gonna start squealing over teenage us."

Regina smirks as they leave the kitchen, "Yes, she did rather give off that vibe. I suppose we should put her out of her misery. But we should tell Henry first."

"Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So here we are. One of the motivations behind this story was that, while I enjoy the "magical amnesia makes them realize their feelings" trope, sometimes I want them to have figured it out normally, you know? The other motivation behind this story is how naive people make teenage Regina and I kinda disagree with that? Innocent, I don't argue with, but naive? With a mother like Cora and what my personal headcannon believes Cora did to her? I personally think Regina would have grown up almost cynical and tough (and almost like, in denial about how bad her life really was, but not in an oblivious way just in a "I refuse to think about it because if I do I'll have a breakdown kinda way" (and that falling in love with Daniel made her happy and more trusting and melted a mask she had grown until that fell apart so spectacularly). Just my personal opinion, so I tried to have a Regina who was controlled by her mother, but wasn't quite so trusting with people (while still blushing adorably and wanting other people's approval. Idk if that makes sense or I pulled it off or if it went to far in the other direction, but that was part of my motivation for writing this.
> 
> I just have a lot of teenage Regina feels and thoughts and I needed to share them. Also, as I mentioned in the first chapter, I have a number of teenage Swan Queen ideas in various stages of completion-although this was the only one with both of them acting like teenagers-besides the FTL AU I have where they're actually teenagers. Anyway, the point is I might be putting out some other Swan Queen age-tweaked stories at some point in the future. maybe. Finishing things is still my greatest weakness.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the story! thanks so much to everyone who read, leave kudos, bookmark, and extra special thanks to everyone who commented! Love you all.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was supposed to be a quick little one-shot of maybe five pages that had some cute teenage interaction and it spiraled out of control. Good news is, most of it is written-it just needs editing. I don't normally work in present tense so idk how that turned out either. I have no idea as far as the title is concerned. This was mainly because I have opinions and feelings for teenage Emma and Regina. I was going to post it as one long story, but since editing is annoying and its long, I decided to break it into pieces.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think. Thanks for checking this out!


End file.
